Posts Tagged intelligence

Luke 10: 21

At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes.Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Thy sight.”

Have you ever thought that perhaps you are not the sharpest knife in the drawer? Well, today is your day. All those folks who think they are so wise and intelligent are eating your dust because God has chosen to reveal His great and mighty wonders to those who are not so impressed with their great intellect.

Truth be told, our esteem for our brain power is a huge road block in hearing the voice of God. We can easily get so caught up in our minds and in our thoughts that the voice of God is hard to hear. We hear too much of ourselves to hear Him. The truly wise are those who have not enthroned their intellect on the shrine of their hearts and have instead learned how to have a sensitive, open heart because it is really with our hearts that we hear God. God has come and made His abode in our hearts so it is right there in our hearts that the secrets of God are going to be revealed.

The learned of Jesus’ time had a hard time receiving the truth of Messiah. Even the Apostle Paul who had the right education and was scholarly almost missed the boat entirely. God had to arrest him with an extreme encounter to open his eyes. Paul was endeavoring to serve God with all his might as he persecuted and tortured Christians. He was zealous in his service to God even though he was so far off base. As long as he served God in his mind and his intellect, he fell far from the mark. Once God showed him that his mind needed to be renewed he came to understand that we serve God out of love overflowing from our hearts rather than our minds, our intellect or our education.

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for education. Paul told Timothy to study to show himself approved (2 Timothy 2: 15). But we need to understand how minimal our intellect is in the grand scheme and realize that our hearts have much greater capacity than our brains. Look at Sister Teresa. I don’t know if she was ever acclaimed for her IQ but her heart and her devotion sure made an impression on the world. It was when the Apostle Paul fell in love with Jesus that he yielded his service and changed the course of human history.

So, don’t be too impressed with your intellect. Rather let it serve you as you study God’s Word. God is all too happy to reveal His great mysteries to you as you yield yourself to Him. You don’t have to reason out the great mysteries of life. You don’t have to figure out everything. God will just show you if you will let Him.